Hi Reader,

If you have experienced trauma, particularly childhood trauma or complex trauma, you probably aren’t surprised to hear that trauma doesn’t only affect the mind. It can affect the functioning of your entire body, including your digestive system.

​In fact, research suggests that about one in five people living with a chronic GI condition also experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

If you’ve ever felt like your gut is “overreacting” or “out to get you,” you’re not alone—and you’re not imagining it. Your body may be responding to past experiences in ways that make perfect biological sense.

Let’s break down what we know so far.

How Trauma Affects Digestion

1.The Gut and Brain Are Always Talking.

Your gut and brain communicate constantly through nerves, hormones, and the gut microbiome. When trauma or chronic stress enters the picture, this communication can become disrupted.

For some people, this shows up as IBS, functional dyspepsia, GERD, chronic bloating or pain, or unpredictable bowel habits.

Trauma doesn’t cause these conditions outright, but it can make the gut more sensitive, reactive, or inflamed.

Self-Paced Video Courses

Make Peace with Your Gut: Living Well with IBS Empowering individuals with IBS to take control of their health through holistic strategies, from diagnosis to diet and beyond. Transform your understanding of IBS and discover effective dietary and lifestyle approaches to manage symptoms, improve quality of life, and expand your IBS threshold. Course Includes: ✓ IBS Diagnosis and Root Cause Work-Up Guide ✓ Basic Gut Health Strategies Checklist ✓ 7-Day Low-FODMAP Diet Meal Plan ✓ Low-FODMAP Diet resources, including a FODMAP-Gentle Guide, Common FODMAPs in Foods List, and FODMAP Reintroduction Tracker ✓ And more! Free preview

Nourish Your Mind: Healing Depression from the Inside Out This course is specifically designed for individuals dealing with depression or caring for loved ones with depression. Explore how simple changes in diet and lifestyle can positively impact your mental health, offering a pathway to a brighter and more fulfilling life. All good things take time, but research shows that symptoms can significantly improve with changes in nutrition and self-care in 12 weeks' time. Let's do this together. Course Includes: ✓ 7-Day Sample Meal Plan for Mental Health ✓ Food and Mood Habit Tracker ✓ Supplement, Exercise, and Sleep Considerations ✓ And more! Free preview

Trauma-Informed Care: An Integrative Nutrition Approach to Empowered Healing

My book for nutrition professionals and health care providers centered on trauma-informed care is now available. If you're a professional looking to up-skill in how you recognize, talk about, and address trauma in your patients' lives, I hope you'll find the book to be helpful, practical, and in-depth. My goal is to help providers feel more confident in providing trauma-informed, trauma-sensitive, and trauma-specific care to their clients, and so experience more therapeutic connection and more fulfillment in their work.

While this particular book is geared toward nutrition professionals, trauma-informed care is relevant to everyone. Most people have experienced trauma in some form throughout the course of their lives. Recovery can often be complex, lengthy, and really, really hard. And when you're struggling, nothing is "easy." But I hope that knowing there are things you can do to support your mental health and support your resilience is empowering—and I'm here to support you as you embark on that journey.

Until next time,

Erica Golden, RDN, LD, IFNCP NourishedMindNutrition.com

I would love to work with you! I offer telehealth nutrition services to clients in multiple states across the US. If you want to find out how to harness the power of nutrition for your health and improve your relationship with food, send me a message or schedule a phone call with me. Schedule a 15-minute discovery call